Spiral

by SomedayonBroadway

Race hadn't seen it coming. Maybe he hadn't wanted to. All he could see was red.

1. Part 1

Well hi there, friends! It's been a while, let me tell you. I haven't had lots of time to write in the past couple of months with being a full time college student, a part time worker, being in two shows and then sometimes sleeping in between. But guess what... that's all cancelled! So now I have all the time in the world for the next three weeks at least!

Anyways, this is actually a story I started writing last summer after getting a request from the lovely SinfullySimple. I know I'm behind on updates and requests and Tumblr asks, you name it, but I am definitely going to try and catch myself up at least a little over the next couple weeks.

Okay, so TW! Please be careful if you get easily triggered by mentions of descriptions of abuse, rape, blood, fighting, manipulation, anything else in these categories. I often get a lot of complaints about how I never include trigger warnings. Ya'll... read the authors notes. They're almost always there.

Anyways!

I've missed you guys!

Please enjoy!

For the life of him, he couldn't figure it out.

How did he get here?

"No! No! No! Wake up! Stay with me! Please-please! I need you!" There was blood on his hands. Precious blood that should be running through someone else's veins.

Race couldn't breathe.

There was so much red. All he could see was red. All he could feel was anguish and the tears spilling down his face.

There was too much. It was all too much. A body behind him. Someone else bleeding out beneath his own hands.

It was his worst nightmare come to life and he hadn't even seen it coming. Not really. Maybe he hadn't wanted to see it.

But here it was, happening right in front of him.

And all he could do was scream.

It hadn't started out as a nightmare. At least, not that Race could remember. In fact, at the beginning, it had almost been a dream. Too good to be true.

At the beginning, it had been easy to fall.

And now he was trapped.

Arms encircled his waist. He tried not to cringe at the contact. The night before had not quite left his mind yet. It would. Eventually. Just not yet.

"Hey, angel..." Race did not respond. He just continued to cut up the carrot on the counter. He stiffened only slightly and scowled, trying so hard not to let any tears fall. He was so confused. He just didn't know what to do. "Hey... what do I gotta do?" the person behind him asked, pressing a long, slow kiss to his bare shoulder. "I said I was sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Tell me what I need to do to make it better..."

It was impossible. Impossible to keep it together.

Race broke. One, single, broken, bitter laugh and he couldn't hold on anymore. Tears streamed down his face as the knife fell from his hands. It landed on the counter with a small clang and silent sobs wracked his body.

The arms around him tightened. The boy didn't move. "Please don't cry, Tony... babe... I'll do anything to make it better... I'm so sorry... I was drunk... I... I didn't know what I was doing..."

That was the excuse. Race knew he shouldn't give in. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he needed out. He needed to get out.

And then...

"I love you, Antonio... more than anything in the entire goddamn world..." They we're both crying now. And the person behind Race buried their head in the crook of his neck. "Please... please talk to me... I don't know... I'd die without you, baby... you know I'd die without you... so please just talk to me..."

He shook his head. His heart clenched so tightly. "Please don't say that..." he begged quietly, unable to handle the thought. "Please... j'st don't say that..."

He was pulled around gently. He still flinched. A hand caressed his cheek. He leaned into it. He had to. He was so confused. "I'll fix it... I promise. Racer, I'll fix it and I'll never hurt you again..." There it was. The promise. The one that he kept holding onto. For four years now, he'd been hanging on, falling. It was love at one point. It still was. "Please just tell me you'll never leave me... please... I need to know that you still love me..."

A hand tightened in the front of Race's shirt. He reached up to fold it in his own. He looked up into teary grey eyes. Sniffling he nodded. "I... I ain't leavin'... I love you, Drake... I love you..."

Lips were on his own in a second. Race reached up to tangle his hand in the taller man's shaggy brown hair. He tried to relax into the familiar movement of those lips on his own. The other man's tongue slipped between his lips and both of Drake's hands travelled down his back to his ass. Race was pulled closer to his partner's chest.

It was a long moment. But eventually, the kiss broke. And they just stood in that kitchen, holding each other.

"I swear I'll be better..." Drake whispered. "I love you so much..."

Race felt nauseous. "I believe you..." He'd said it before. He knew he had. But it wasn't a lie. He wished it could be sometimes. But, when those grey eyes looked down at him like that... he couldn't not believe it. "I love you, too..."

He would believe it every time.

But there was someone else who wouldn't.

His childhood hadn't always been perfect. It may have never been perfect. He had a father who hit him, who used him, a mother who got him hooked on cigarettes and pot when he was hardly ten years old; habits he'd never been able to fully shake. But, after a couple months floating around in the system, he'd found home.

A mother who loved to sing, who baked him cookies whenever he had bad days and would drive him anywhere, even when he didn't truly need it. And two big brothers. Both more protective than he could've ever imagined. One who took extreme measures to make sure no one picked on him, and another who was a bit calmer in an approach to get him to open up and talk to them about the issues he had.

He'd found home when he was twelve years old.

And he was the one who was tearing it apart.

"Do we really gotta be here?"

Race resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It's only a few hours, babe... I wanna see my brothers n' my Ma... we already dipped on them last week..." he stated as they walked up the steps to the small house. Their hands were intertwined between them.

"C'mon... ya know that Jack hates me..."

Wincing a little at the cold truth, Race shook his head. "Jack hates everybody I ever dated... he's protective... he soaked a football player once cause he called me stupid..." It was a true story. Longer than that, but a true story, nonetheless.

"Fine. But the second he starts shit again, I'm leavin'." He said that every time.

Race never got to stay for too long anymore.

When the door was opened, Race grinned, a big, genuine smile. "Antonio Higgins, get your ass over here and give your mama a hug!"

"Hi, Mama," Race laughed, slipping his hand out of Drake's grip and throwing his arms around his adoptive mother. She was a plump, dark skinned woman, about three inches shorter than the young man. He had to lean down to embrace her and give her a quick peck on the cheek. "I missed ya..."

"I miss you too, my angel. Your brothers were takin' bets on whether or not we'd see ya today! Get in that kitchen and get Charlie his twenty bucks," she teased, kissing his forehead before letting him out of her arms. She playfully pushed him inside. He let her, rushing inside, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited for his partner to join him.

Drake stood there awkwardly, not really wanting to move. Medda looked him up and down. "Hi, Drake... you takin' care of my baby?" she asked, almost jokingly. He laughed. She gave him a tight smile.

Nodding, Drake forced a smile too. "I'm doing my best, Medda... your son's quite the handful," he joked.

Medda did not find that funny. Race knew she didn't. But she invited him inside anyways.

"Hey! The Racer kid's here!"

Race's heart soared at the voice. It had only been two weeks, but he missed them. "Hey, Charlie!" he laughed, rushing over to embrace the other boy, just slightly older than him, sitting on a stool at the island of the kitchen. His blond hair barely peaked out beneath the newsboy cap on his head. He had a denim jacket laid over the back of his chair and wore a black and grey stripped v-necked t-shirt. There were two metal elbow crutches sitting beside him.

"There's my little brother!"

Before Race could get too comfortable in that embrace, arms wrapped around him from behind, and he squealed as his feet were lifted off the ground. He ignored the pain that shot through his side. It hurt. But he was used to it by now. "Jack! Put me down!"

A hum was his response as he laughed and struggled in the loving embrace. Jack always did that to him. Like he was thinking about it. But then he somehow maneuvered the younger man, throwing him over his shoulder. "Don't think so, kid," he decided with a laugh.

"Oh let him down, Jackie..." Charlie laughed, shaking his head. Race was trying to push himself up, his hands braced against Jack's back. It wasn't working. But he couldn't stop laughing.

Eventually, after a couple moments of struggling, Race was allowed back down on the ground. And he wrapped his arms around his big brother before he could even say anything else. "Hey," he giggled, tightening his fists in the back of the man's red flannel.

"Hi, baby brother. Thought ya weren't gonna show," Jack stated. Race felt a kiss press onto his temple as a hand pet over his hair.

With a small laugh, Race shrugged. "Heard you were takin' bets," he teased, giving Charlie a wink over Jack's shoulder. And Charlie laughed.

"Oh whatever!" Jack scoffed, pulling away from the hug. He ruffled Tony's hair, making the younger boy swat at him, ducking away from it. "What's twenty bucks?" he joked, pulling out his wallet and handing Charlie a twenty dollar bill.

"For you? Everything," Charlie joked, taking the bill from his brother's hand and pocketing it immediately.

They always made that joke. Jack was not necessarily a starving artist, but he had definitely started out in that category. He designed sets now for their mother's theatre and also drew cartoons for his fiancé's children's books. He actually made quite a bit of money. "You guys are the worst," he stated, shaking his head.

And Race laughed. "You know you love us!"

In fact, Jack did. He grinned and quickly wrapped an arm around the youngest boy's shoulders, pulling him close to his side and kissing the side of his head again. "Damn straight I love you," he admitted, shaking the kid a little, playfully and lightly before running a hand through his own thick brown hair.

Race still winced. But he made sure to hide it.

"Hey, Jack... Charlie..." his husband greeted as he walked into the threshold of their small kitchen.

It was insane to Racer how quickly his big brother could go from playful and fun loving, to completely solemn in less than a second flat. It was scary, actually. Jack's arm didn't move from around him as he reached out for Drake's hand. "Hey, Dillinger... how's it hangin'?" he asked, his voice even and cold.

Drake gave him a tight smile. "Great... thanks..." It was almost always the same exchange. They'd shake hands. Pretend to be civil. But there was a look in both of their eyes that made Race nervous. The kind of look that radiated an anger that was beyond describing. They hated each other. They always had, and Race feared they always would.

"Hi, Drake," a much more cheery voice interrupted, sending a wave of relief down the younger boy's spine. He relaxed under Jack's arm as he watched his husband walk over to his other brother. Charlie didn't like Drake either. But he was better at pretending.

Race didn't get it. Not really. Drake took care of him. Drake protected him. He loved Drake. But Jack and Charlie always told him he needed to get out.

Sometimes he wanted out. But it wasn't a real desire. Drake was the love of his life. They'd die without each other. They needed each other.

Race needed him.

Race needed to breathe. It was too hard. He couldn't think. There was no one. Nothing to keep him calm anymore. He was alone.

He'd done this.

Harsh, cold, terrified gasps were all he could hear. Race didn't know what to say. He moved around them, cradled them in his lap as he pushed pressure to the deadly wound.

"Please... please... I need n' ambulance! He's dyin'!"

He didn't know who's phone he had. All he knew was that it wasn't his.

"Sir, I can't understand you, you have to calm down. Are you hurt?"

"He... he's bleeding, please help him!" Race sobbed.

"T... Tony..."

"Shhhhh... stay awake... please stay awake..."

Race couldn't breathe. All he could see was red.

They were sitting down to eat. And Race was thankful for that. He sat in between his wonderful mother and his husband who reached to hold his hand underneath the table. Race smiled over at him and then leaned to press a quick peck to his cheek as Jack brought the food out and set it on the table.

Homemade lasagna. It was Race's favorite and they all knew it.

"Dig in, babies!"

"Oh, Ace is gonna be mad she missed your lasagna, Mama," Jack said as he sat down. Medda immediately began to serve everyone.

She laughed. "Well, she should think about that the next time she goes to California all by herself," she teased. Though, there was no malice behind it.

Race tried not to let it hurt. Whenever they talked about Katherine it was always with a kind of admiration. Whenever they talked about Drake it always sounded sad and there was always some kind of warning that came with it. He hated that. He wished they could look at Drake like they looked at Katherine. He wished they'd just accept him.

But they didn't. He was starting to think they never would.

"Why did Kat go ta California?" Race asked, scooping up a bite with his fork and shoving it in his mouth.

Smiling a little, Jack responded, "She had a little girl write to her about her last book. Told her that she's in the hospital, cancer. So Kathy got in touch with her parents n' went ta visit her..."

A warmth flooded through Race's chest. That's why they adored Katherine. He did too. That woman was incredible.

"Why didn't you go with her?" The question was asked almost offhandedly. Race held back a flinch when his husband spoke like that. His voice was low and his gaze was pointed. He asked like he'd wanted Jack to go. Like he didn't want him here. Here we go, the younger man thought silently.

Looking back up from his dinner plate, Jack's eyes met Drake's. For a moment he sat silently, as if he hadn't thought it was a real question. But eventually, he responded. "'Cause I've got another job," he responded obviously. "I can't just quit when I don't wanna go to it no more."

There it was. Jack was always good at discretely fighting. He always won those kinds of arguments. In fact, Race couldn't think of a time Jack had lost any fights. Ever.

It was true enough that Drake had been through his fair share of jobs in the past. If he didn't like it, he'd move on. But he was getting better. He told Race he was getting better.

"I have a job, thank you very much," Drake defended quickly. Again, he reached for Race's hand. On top of the table this time. Only, all he was able to do was wrap a hand around Race's wrist.

That night was still fresh in Race's mind. He flinched.

Jack's eyes flashed in pure fury. But he didn't move. He couldn't. "For what? Two months? Impressive," he commented sarcastically instead, glancing down at Race before he locked in on Drake again. But his eyes hadn't settled on Race's own. Instead, they'd zeroed in on his wrist.

"Jack, stop it..." Charlie tried. Race couldn't speak. He didn't want to try. He just looked at Jack and shook his head, silently begging him to stop talking.

"You know what, I'm sorry that I didn't go to some fancy college and get a degree! Some of us didn't have Mommy's pocket to pick!" Race felt his own heart twitch at the accusation.

Jack had earned every penny he spent for art school by himself. Medda offered to help. He'd turned her down. Race's gaze shot over to his lover's in shock for a moment. He'd never told him anything about how Jack went to college or how Jack grew up before Medda. Drake was just guessing.

To his surprise, his big brother didn't reply. At least, not with words. He scoffed and shook his head and went back to eating.

A silence swept over the room. Medda didn't say anything. Charlie didn't say anything. What could anyone say? If Jack spoke, the argument would keep going, if Drake spoke everyone would get even more angry, if Race spoke he'd be defending one of them and that meant choosing sides and Race was so done with choosing sides. He just wanted them all to get along.

It was a long moment of tense quiet before Medda reached over and placed a loving hand on Race's shoulder. "How's the studio, baby?" she asked, clearly desperate to change the subject.

But that only brought another ache to Race's chest. He could hardly dance. It hurt too much. "It's... it's good... they want me ta help choreograph the next production... we're not sure what it is yet..." he explained lamely. His studio was the best. He loved it there. He'd been apart of it ever since he was a kid.

"That's wonderful, Antonio! I'm so proud of you!" she exclaimed, leaning over to give him a kiss on the head. He smiled again at that.

He'd be healed by then. It was one stupid mistake. It would be over by then.

Race's smile disappeared, however, when he looked over at his oldest brother. Jack knew. Somehow, someway, Jack knew what had happened. And he was not so quick to forgive. Those green eyes bore into him, like he could see straight through him. And then he stood up. "Racer, come help me in the kitchen, please?" he asked, turning around and walking to the other room, not waiting for a response.

The younger man knew better than to say no. He looked over at his family, slipping his wrist from Drake's grasp and pushing away from the table to follow his big brother into the kitchen.

He wished he'd just disappear.

His clothes were drenched in a substance that made him nauseous. But all he could feel was numb. The tears were slowing, leaving his cheeks soaked through and his eyes red.

"Are you Antonio?"

"Yes..."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

Race blinked. He didn't want to think. He didn't want to remember.

"I... he... he got shot..."

"What about the other man?"

The numbness was wearing off. Race could only push the feelings away for so long.

"I... I killed him... I killed him..."

When he made it into the other room, he found Jack, standing on a chair from the kitchen table that had been pushed up against the cabinets. "Jackie, what're ya doin'?" he asked, trying his best to sound annoyed. Right now, it was hard to feel anything. He wasn't sure he wanted to.

The older man just opened the top cabinet and began to rifle through a few things before gently removing a fake wall along the side of it. It had been there as long as they could remember. No one was sure why. But the hiding space behind it wasn't deep enough to hide much of anything.

Except a small piece of paper.

Race's heart dropped.

"Have a seat, kid," his brother promoted, hopping down from his chair and lifting the thing up, placing it back at the table that Race mutely sat down at. Jack turned his own chair backwards, straddling the back of it as he sat down. He unfolded the flimsy piece of paper in his hands and laid it out flat on the table. Race could see his own handwriting mixed with Jack's scrawled all over it. And at the bottom, his own signature. "I, Antonio Issac Higgins, agree to be closely supervised, should my big brothers notice me begin to spiral out of control-"

"Are you kidding me?" Race scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You still have that?"

Looking up at him, completely and totally serious, Jack only blinked. "The contract we made after you ran away and almost got hit by a car? Yeah. Still have it."

It had taken years for Race to truly even begin to understand how badly he'd scared Jack that night. But this was beyond what he'd expected. "Jack, that thing's like nine years old!" he argued, trying to keep his voice down. He didn't want anyone in the other room to hear this.

Especially not Drake.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Jack asked, sounding almost desperate.

Race did not need this right now. He felt like he was suffocating. He wanted to run. "No, I don't think you're stupid, I think you're bein' ridiculous!" he whispered, leaning closer to the man in front of him. Jack had always protected him. He loved Jack more than life. But right now, Jack was driving him insane.

"Kid, you are scared of him and he knows it."

Race felt himself pale just a little bit. He swallowed hard and pushed away from the table, standing to his feet. "Drop it, Jack... seriously..." That was all he could think to say. He tried to turn around, go back out, sit beside his husband and pretend that he was okay. He was. He loved that man.

But before he could leave the room a hand caught his arm. He flinched and tried to pull away. Jack was stronger than him. "Hey!" he hissed quietly, pulling the kid back. "Please... just... Race, you're my baby brother... I put up with Drake because you swore you loved him four years ago... but... if he is hurting you-"

"I swear ta God, Jack, just drop it!" he hissed, ripping himself out of his brother's grip and turning to walk back out of the kitchen.

Maybe Drake was right. They shouldn't have come.

But Jack rushed around him, blocking his exit. And Race gave him a irritated look. "I... I can't let you go back out there until I know you're okay..."

The younger boy did not say anything. He just stood there, trying not to let his eyes focus too much on the pure desperation in his big brother's eyes. It wasn't working. His brother was scared for him. And Race hated it. "Drake loves me-"

"I love you..." Jack stressed, placing his hands on Race's shoulders. "Me and Charlie an' Medda. We love you. We're your family, kid, n' we're worried about you!" Then his hand reached down for Race's right wrist. "What happened?"

Race's eyes widened. He hadn't looked. Not since it happened. He hadn't thought it was that bad, but his grey, long sleeved sweater slid down easily. The bruise on his wrist was deep and dark. "That... it's not... he didn't-"

Jack sighed and shook his head. "Look, you got nothin' ta hide, pal... I'm here n' I'm listenin' n' I will protect you, no matter what, you understand?" He gently pulled the kid's arm to his chest, cradling it gently. Tears pricked at Race's eyes.

It was still fresh in his mind.

"It wasn't his fault... I... it was my fault... so just leave it, okay?"

He ripped himself away from his big brother and stormed out of the room.

Jack stood there, completely still.

It hadn't always been a nightmare.

His family hated the man he'd married when he was nineteen. It wasn't unheard of. But he'd never imagined this.

He was whimpering. The man in Race's lap. He was in too much pain to speak. Race didn't know what to do. He pressed down on the wound harder. "Please... I need you..."

"Hey... hey... I know this is scary... I'm not here ta take you ta jail... but ya gotta tell me what happened..." The man in front of him was an officer. Race couldn't take in the details. All he could see was the badge that hung around the man's neck on a chain.

"I didn't know what ta do..."

"That's okay, Antonio... just relax..."

Only Race couldn't relax. He couldn't breathe.

"Baby... are you okay?"

His husband was fuming. Had been since he'd gotten home. It was Monday night. Race was still hurt. But he'd gone to dance anyways.

He couldn't handle it again. Not this soon. Drake said he was getting better.

The other man grabbed a glass off the table and threw it forcibly at the wall. It shattered and Race jumped, stumbling back till his back hit the wall. He went stiff.

The man in the kitchen let out a scream. Race's eyes widened. The man wasn't drunk. He was just angry. "Goddammit!" he cried, his hands slamming down on the table.

Race was frozen on the spot. He didn't know what to do.

"Drake... please calm down-"

"Don't tell me to calm down!"

Flinching, Race closed his eyes, trying like hell not to cry. He didn't mean it. Drake didn't mean it. He was just angry. He had to remember that. "Okay..." he breathed. "What-"

"They fired me!"

Race's heart dropped. He wasn't surprised. He was just scared.

"Didn't do a goddamned thing to them and they fired me!" The man wasn't thinking clearly. Race knew that. But he was still scared.

"Baby... it's okay-"

"It is not okay! Do you have any idea what the hell you're talking about?!"

Don't be stupid, he reminded himself. He didn't move. He didn't know what he could do. If he moved, Drake would tell him to stay. If he stayed for too long, Drake would tell him to move. There was no winning here. "I'm sorry..."

"Would you stop talking!" He grabbed the vase on the table. He swung it at Race. The younger man ducked, gasping as glass shattered just above him.

They both froze. Their eyes locked. Both of them were in complete shock.

Drake recovered first. "Baby-"

Race stepped away from his hand when he reached for him. He blinked the tears out of his eyes. He turned and started to make his way to the front door, shaking his head. He just needed some space. They both did.

But his arm was grabbed. He was spun around roughly and forcefully pulled to his husband's chest. "Don't leave! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it!"

Race felt his breaths speed up. He was scared. He wanted to run.

He pushed away from his lover as best he could, turning around to try to get to the door. But Drake still had a good grip on him. "Tony, stop it!" Tony didn't stop. He kept fighting. But Drake kept trying to pull him back. "You can't just run away!"

"Let go!" He was already begging. He sounded pathetic.

"Don't you dare walk out on me, Race!"

Race had no intention of leaving for good. He was nothing without Drake. He knew that. Drake and him were a single unit. They had been for four years. But he had to get out right now. He needed to take a breath of fresh air.

He stepped hard on Drake's foot and the hold on him immediately loosened. And Race ran for the door, grabbing his sweatshirt on his way out and letting the door slam shut behind him.

"Antonio... are you sure you're not hurt?"

"Please stop callin' me that..." It was too formal. He didn't want to be here. He wanted something familiar.

"Okay... do you like Tony?"

Race nodded. That was good enough.

"Alright... Tony... I need you ta think real hard..."

"Jackie... can I come over?"

"Of course you can, kid..."

It was a mistake. He shouldn't have gone there.

"Bad night?"

Race didn't respond. His big brother was leaning against the doorframe, his hands in his pockets. He wasn't wearing a shirt. It was only then that Race realized how late it was.

"Ya hungry?"

All Race had to do was nod before Jack welcomed him in, ruffling his hair gently as he passed by. Race melted beneath the touch that he'd normally push away. His body was relieved at the softness of it.

"I've got some left over Chinese in the fridge... n' a beer on the bottom shelf..."

Jack knew him too well. He grabbed the beer first. The glass bottle was freezing in his hand, but Race took a swig of it anyways, reaching in and grabbing a box off of the top shelf. He immediately opened it and put it in the microwave.

The second he hit start, he was spinning back around. He collapsed against his big brother who had been waiting there the whole time. The man slipped the glass from his hands and set it on the counter beside them before wrapping Race up tight. "Hey... I'm right here... it's gonna be okay..."

Nodding against his brother's bare shoulder, Race sniffled. It would be. He believed that. It just wasn't right now. Right now, he was not okay. "Sorry I woke you up..." Race whispered, his voice watery.

"Don't be sorry, pal... just tell me what's goin' on..." he encouraged lightly, pulling back just a bit and clipping his brother's chin. "Kath won't be back till tomorrow mornin'... It's just you n' me t'night... ya know you can tell me anythin'..."

Race sighed and leaned into Jack's hand when it moved to cup his cheek. Jack always used to tell him he was so much like a cat when it came to touch. He'd always nudge his way in for a pat on the head. It used to make Jack laugh.

"I j'st wanna sit down... can't we just... watch a movie?"

Sighing a little bit as the microwave went off, Jack nodded. "Okay... yeah... we can do that..."

They ended up on Jack's old couch, Race's head in the older man's lap as fingers stroked through his curly blond hair. The blue eyed boy tugged his sweatshirt further around himself and closed his eyes. It was late. He felt horrible.

Jack should be asleep. He had to pick up Katherine in the morning. And yet, he was sitting here, awake, a movie playing in the background as he comforted his baby brother.

Race was there for hours. It was close to two in the morning now.

He was safe. He was with Jack and he was safe.

Until a loud knock came at the door, startling both young men on the couch.

"Open the door! I know you're in there, Antonio!" Race shot up.

"Jesus Christ," Jack muttered, blinking himself awake and standing to his feet, quickly making his way over to the door, locking the the chain before pulling it open as far as it could go. "Do you have any idea what time it is?!" he hissed.

Race sat on the couch, frozen. He didn't want to see the other man yet. He just wanted to sleep.

The other man was drunk now. He had to be drunk.

"I swear to God, Jack! Let me in!"

"Tony ain't here. Get lost." Jack lied. Straight through his teeth. And he didn't even flinch. He went to close the door again. But a hand stopped him.

"I know he's here. Open the damn door!"

The man was definitely drunk.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about... but I was asleep till you showed up. So if ya don't want me ta call the cops on ya, ya better get lost." Again, Jack tried to close the door.

It was then that it occurred to Race that Drake could've tracked his phone.

Suddenly, Race was terrified. And he curled in on himself.

"You know what Jack, I have put up with you for years because Race thinks that your the most important person in his life. But ya know what?" Race watched his big brother. He couldn't see his husband.

His brother took a step back.

"I'm done with you."

Race heard a click. He couldn't place what it was. Not until his brother's eyes widened. Not until he was raising up his hands. "What the fuck?" he asked slowly, not truly believing what was happening.

"Open the door right now, Kelly."

"Jack!" Race called quietly, rushing over to step between his brother and the man he loved.

There he was. Drake. Standing with a pistol in his hand. Race couldn't breathe.

"Open the door," the handsome man demanded again, pointing it at both of them. "Now."

"Babe, you're drunk... please... you can't-"

"Shut your mouth and open the goddamn door!"

"How did your husband know how ta find you?"

The question caught Race off guard. Like he was confused why the officer was even asking. "He... he makes me share my location with him... he... said... uhm... said he'd have it turned off if I didn't..."

"So he pays for your phone?"

Reaching up to wipe at the tears that began all over again, Race shook his head. "N-no... not anymore... he used to... his name's on everythin'... he has all the passwords..."

He knew how scared he sounded. He couldn't help it.

"Tony... can you take a deep breath for me?"

No. He couldn't.

Race reached up for the lock. He pulled the chain away shakily and clumsily. Drake slammed the door open. The youngest boy felt his big brother pull him back by the arm. A soft tug, but it was enough to put him at Jack's side.

"Drake, put the gun down... seriously..." Race begged, raising his hands up only a little, trying to calm the man down.

The thing was pointed directly at Jack. The man's rage seemed to be getting the better of him. "Four years an' I got nothing but shit from you... you are the one who's keeping my husband from me!"

"Drake, stop it!" Race cried again. But Jack grabbed his arm again, pulling the boy fully behind him.

"Drake, you ain't thinkin' straight... put that thing down... you're gonna hurt somebody-"

"That's the idea, Jackie-boy..." Drake lips curled into a sort of smirk. Race grabbed for Jack's arm. "Ya know... if it wasn't for you, Race would be at home right now. Where he belongs. With me." He took a step closer to them. Jack took a step back. "Get on your knees, Jack. Now."

Tightening his grasp on his big brother's arm, Race shook his head. "Baby... no one is keepin' me from you... Jack isn't-"

"On your knees, Kelly! Now!" Jack did it. Race could see his chest rising and falling quicker than normal. It occurred to the boy right then that he'd never once seen Jack this scared. The man's eyes were wide. His hands were shaking.

The hold on the other man's arm did not loosen. Race went down with him. "Drake, leave him alone... let's go home... please... I just wanna go home..."

"We ain't goin' home... we're movin'... far..."

That was when the fear was practically radiating off of Jack. "No... no... you ain't... you ain't takin' my brother..."

"Shut up!" the broken man marched over to them, resting the nozzle of his pistol on top of Jack's head. "Just, shut up! No one asked you ta speak!"

The air was getting thinner. Race couldn't breathe. "Jack, stop it... please... I..." he scared sob escaped him. For a moment, he rest his forehead on his brother's shoulder. And then he pressed a quick kiss to the side of his head. "I love you..."

"'Tonio-"

"I'm coming, Drake... let's go... please... please let's just go..."

He wanted to scream. But he couldn't.

"Antonio, do not go with him." Jack had never been so serious in his life. He'd never been this terrified. "Don't you even dare..." He was begging. Because he knew Race.

He knew Race was going to go with him.

The younger man rose up slowly, locking eyes with the man whom he'd once called the love of his life. He slowly moved past his brother. With one glance back down at him, he looked up at Drake. And he craned his neck up to slowly kiss his husband.

Drake kissed him back immediately. But the gun stayed pointed up at Jack.

A hand tangled in Race's curls as his own cupped his husband's face. It was too long before he pulled away. "Let's go... please..." he begged. He kissed Drake's chin. "I love you..." He kissed Drake's neck.

Drake relaxed. Just a little bit. It was enough for Race. It wouldn't be so bad. Drake would calm down in the morning. He could apologize to Jack in the morning. But right now, they needed to go home.

But he was so focused on his husband, that he forgot to keep an eye on his overprotective brother. His recklessly overprotective brother.

A shot went off. Race gasped and jumped away, only to stumble and fall back onto the ground.

Jack was up. No one was hit. Race didn't know where the bullet went. He didn't care. They were struggling. His big brother and his husband. They were fighting for the pistol.

"No! Stop it!"

Another shot was fired. It went into the ceiling.

Jack shoved Drake into the wall. Drake tripped Jack and got pulled to the ground as the other man went down. The gun ended up above their heads.

Race's heart was beating too fast. He got up. "Stop it!" he screamed again. He stood, trying to figure out what to do. He looked around.

His eyes landed on a bat. Jack's bat by the front door. He rushed towards it.

Drake managed to get a good punch in, right on Jack's right eye. And he reached for the gun.

Another shot was fired.

But this time, someone screamed.

Race's eyes widened. He looked up and his entire world stopped. "No!"

Drake stood up. Jack didn't.

The gun was lifted up again. "I'm so tired of you, Kelly..." Drake decided. There was blood soaking through his shirt. It wasn't his.

"No..." Race breathed.

Drake lifted up the gun. It was level with what Race assumed was his brother's skull.

The boy didn't think.

He reacted.

He didn't feel himself swing. He couldn't see straight. He heard someone scream.

His throat was raw.

Shock took him over completely. The weapon fell from his hands with a clang and Race fell to his knees, his chest locked, unable to move or allow air into his lungs. He couldn't breathe.

Drake's eyes were open. But they didn't see anything.

He didn't understand what had just happened. Or why it had happened at all.

But a gasp met his ears.

Race let a sob rip from his throat as he tried to remember how to make his limbs move.

Jack was still alive. Jack was still breathing.

But it wouldn't last for long.

Race cried hard when he saw the blood pooling around his brother's side. The other man was shaking. His eyes were wide. There were tears streaming down his face.

Race had never seen Jack lose a fight.

The wound was already exposed. Jack wasn't wearing a shirt.

Race's entire body trembled, almost as much as Jack's did. His hand hovered above the wound. "O-oh my God..."

The man whimpered. He gasped for air. His hand reached for the wound and his eyes squeezed shut. Race stopped him. Jack couldn't fight. Not now. And that scared Race. "T... T..." Jack was hardly breathing. His body was starting to relax.

"N-no... no, no..." Race sobbed. "You're okay! Breath..." he tried. His voice shook. He forced his own sweatshirt off of his shoulders. "Just breath..." he pleaded. But Jack was hardly moving. His eyes were drooping. Race panicked. "Open your eyes... Come back! It's okay! It's over now! Your okay... Wake up! Please wake up!" He was practically screaming now, not knowing whether he was trying to keep his bleeding brother awake or trying to get himself out of this godawful nightmare. "Don't do this to me! Don't do this to me!" He pressed down on the wound. Jack only grunted in response. "Don't do this to me... I love you so much... Come back..."

His mind couldn't fully process what had just happened. All he knew was that Jack was here, bleeding heavily, and not calming him down. Jack always calmed him down.

"Jackie... please don't go..."

All Race could see was red.

Okay... I'm so sorry for that emotional drop. But thank you to those who made it all the way through this chapter. Don't worry, there will be two more that are already written and waiting for you guys :).

Thank you SinfullySimple for this request! I truly had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you enjoy the rest of this story as much as I do.

Alright,

As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to tell me what you liked, what you didn't, what you'd change or what you'd improve by leaving me a review! Love ya, babes!